Harris County GOP adopts, then rejects, stumping fee plan

Updated 11:20 pm, Monday, April 2, 2012

After a raucous debate Monday night, Republican precinct chairs overturned a controversial plan to charge candidates a fee if they wanted to speak at this month's senatorial district convention.

Here's how it would have worked: A statewide candidate who wants five minutes to speak to this month's Harris County Senatorial District convention would have paid $5,000. Congressional or state Senate candidates were being told to fork over $1,250 for 30 seconds before each of the seven senatorial districts convening. Judicial candidates would get 30 seconds to speak to each Senate district for $500 if opposed, $250 if unopposed.

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The fees were set last week by the advisory board of the Harris County Republican Party. The money was intended to pay for the senatorial district convention itself, scheduled for April 21 at Grace Community Church.

It's a "speaker's tax," Houston attorney Ed Hubbard said before the meeting. He lost a bid for county chairman two years ago to Jared Woodfill, the incumbent. "When we start taxing candidates to speak at public meetings, I can't stay silent."

Because the state's protracted redistricting controversy delayed the primary until May 29, this will be the first time the convention will be held before the primary - before a nominee is selected, in other words. Hubbard, who wrote a long memo to his fellow Republicans that detailed his opposition, contends that a candidate running a grass-roots campaign is likely to have a more difficult time laying out $1,250 than a nominee would.

"This is truly a drain on their resources," he said. "The party should not be tilting the playing field that way."

Dale Huls of Friendswood, whose wife is running for the state Legislature, agrees with Hubbard. "We found these fees to be outrageous."

Mary Huls is just such a candidate. She lost two years ago to state Rep. John Davis, R-Houston, and is running against him again. She plans to speak to convention delegates in the halls and on the floor, but she had said she would not pay the fee.

"When did we become a party of money-changers?" Dale Huls asked during the Monday night debate at Houston Community College's West Loop Campus.

Felicia Cravens, founder of the Houston Tea Party Society, responding online to Hubbard's memo, said the speaking fee "is one more way to keep grass-roots candidates like Mary Huls from gaining traction, and it has got to stop."

Woodfill said he does not understand what the fuss is about. "That's the way it's been done for 18 years," he said. "It's amazing he (Hubbard) has just noticed."

Woodfill, who struggled at times to keep order during the Monday night debate, said it takes about $30,000 to run the senatorial district conventions. "This is the first time anybody's ever complained about it," he said.

Hubbard, who notes that the conventions are a mandatory part of the delegate nomination process as contained in the Texas Election Code, urged Republicans to reconsider. He suggested asking delegates to make a small donation, soliciting pledges online and relying on individuals who already have agreed to underwrite any shortfall.

The Harris County Democratic Party holds separate conventions in the individual Senate districts. Usually, these mini-conventions are paid for within the districts through donations, ad sales and fund-raising efforts, said Lane Lewis, chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party.